Gondar to Daback, Ethiopia
Gelada Monkeys and Armed Men
An interesting day! I was picked up from my hotel in Gondar at 7:00 AM by my driver (Abyu) and we headed for Daback, Ethiopia where we would pick up a guide (Borgella) and park ranger for our trip into the Simeon Mountains.
The drive out of Gondar is absolutely gorgeous. Or at least those bits that I was able to see through the fog/clouds. This is the rainy season in Ethiopia it is particularly green and lush in this area.
The drive from Gondar to Daback is roughly 100km and is paved, and in relatively good shape, most of the way. There are quite a few villages that slow progress and then, of course, there is the 20 kilometers of road controlled by the ‘resistance fighters’. We were stopped five times over the 20 kilometers and the driver was shaken down for money. These resistance fighters mostly looked like unserious kids with AK47s. Ironically, we also ran in to two separate columns of regular Ethiopian army over the span of this same 20 kilometers. Resistance fighters just disappear into the local villages and work their way around the military columns. It was really socked in much of the drive so it was probably even easier to evade the military than usual.
In Daback, we registered at the park office and picked up our guide and park ranger and headed for the park. The road climbs the entire way to the park, largely though small plots of crops or open pasture. Once you reach the park boundary, it really doesn’t change that much right away with the exception that the crop fields go away. Quite a bit of domestic animal grazing still goes on (cows, horses, donkeys, sheep). Not sure if this is sanctioned or not but nobody seemed concerned.
The road within the park wound up and down through the mountains and the clouds parted occasionally for some decent scenic views. Wildlife sightings on the way to the Jinbar Waterfall were few and far between and were limited to four ungulates and some birds.
We did make the short hike to the Jinbar Waterfall and were fortunate to get some cloud breaks. The only other tourists registered to be in the park were a couple of Italians and they happened to be at the waterfall when we arrived. They were trying to capture the Ruppell’s Vulture with a backdrop of the falls but it wasn’t sunny enough for the vultures to take off (no thermals developing). The falls are amongst the tallest in the world with the Jinbar River dropping 530 meters at the falls (from an elevation of roughly 3,000 meters amsl).
On the way back from the waterfall, we finally ran across one of the main attractions of the area – Gelada Monkeys. At least four distinct family groups hanging out (grazing) in the same area. These monkeys are primarily vegetarian (grass and tubers) and maybe 2% bugs when grooming. Each family is led by a shaggy looking male. Those within the park are fairly habituated to humans and you can usually get within 4-5 feet of them. Just like the Golden Monkeys in Rwanda, these guys are constantly on the move as they graze. After spending about 40 minutes with this group, we headed to a spot with decent views (usually) for lunch. Unfortunately the weather was still pretty socked in so we didn’t get the views but another family of Gelada Monkeys moved through. A few photos from both encounters. I tried to take the haze/mist out of some of the photos to mixed success.
After lunch we made our way back to Daback for coffee and a frigid evening without hot water. Two public service announcements – hotels in Rwanda and Ethiopia don’t heat/cool the rooms and hot water is not a given. Or maybe it’s just my price point.
And, since I don’t have any bird photos, a couple of flower photos.
